An infantry squad under the Jinan Military Area Command (MAC) of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) held a live-fire attacking drill on a comprehensive training site on May 16, 2011. With the adoption of new and special ammunition, the squad attack created new scenes.

The combat quality of a squad determines the level of combined operations and even joint operations. On the training ground, the reporters witnessed that when the “enemy” squad fort barred the assault route, a machine gunner named Xia Yadong quickly “spotted” the squad fort of the “enemy” with a red ray. Under the guidance of the flame tracer, artillery fire flew to the squad fort and blew it up in no time. Then, under the cover of cluster rocket smoking projectiles, the squad captured the first trench without suffering any casualties, but in trying to capture the second trench, the squad was frustrated by the fire storm formed by the “enemy’s” squad fort and bunker.

At this moment, two sets of individual soldier rocket shells following the rocket shells made straight for the target and wiped out the “enemies” inside the fort.

Wang Jiping, director of the Military Training and Arms Department of the Headquarters of the PLA Jinan MAC, said that during this drill, each target was attacked with a special method, in a way to make full use of the company’s varieties of ammunition.

At the end of the drill, Li Zhiyong, squad leader, said, “During this drill, the firepower of our single squad is almost equivalent to that of a company used in the past. It’s thrilling!”

The report mentions that the air cushion ship, he hull of which is probably damaged beyond repair, was the first of four ordered by China. There is now fear that China may cancel the contract (they would be following the Greek precedent). It adds that most of the employees of More are engaged in St. Petersburg (obviously Almaz shipyard) and in China, where they are building a shipyard analogous to the one in Feodosiya (really?).

Friday, July 02, 2010

The Zubr deal has been finalized.

The last update on the Zubr deal transpired in April 2010 (here). after a prolonged negotiation, the deal seems to have finalized.

Blueprints are to be handed over to the Chinese side under the project, according to some sources

Expect a Chinese export variant coming to a trade-show soon.

(Thanks dylan for the news)

KYIV. July 1 (Interfax-AVN) - The implementation of a contract to build high-speed hovercrafts of the Zubr-type for China at the Morye shipyard in Feodosia will start in September, Prime Minister of Crimea Vasyl Dzharty said.

"The construction of the first two hovercrafts will begin in September," Dzharty said at the shipyard.

Crimea and Ukraine continue looking for new orders for Feodosia shipyards, he said.

"I think orders will come from Russia and from Ukraine," he added.

Earlier reports said that a $350 million contract for the construction of four high-speed amphibious hovercrafts of the Zubr-type for China was concluded by Ukrainian arms trader Ukrspetsexport in 2009.

Two were to be built in Ukraine and two in China with Ukrainian experts' participation. Blueprints are to be handed over to the Chinese side under the project, according to some sources.

Ukraine, Russia and Greece signed a trilateral contract in January 2000 for the delivery of four similar hovercrafts to Greece - two by Ukraine and two by Russia, worth a total of about $200 million. The contract with Ukraine was worth about $97 million and with Russia some $101 million.

The high-speed amphibious hovercraft of the Zubr-type is capable of carrying 150 tons of cargo, including up to three medium tanks, or 500 Marines. The hovercraft can develop a speed of over 60 knots (about 120 kilometers per hour) on land, water and ice. It can tackle obstacles of up to 1.5 meters high. Zubr has five 5 hp gas turbines.

The KongJing-20 (KJ-200) is an early warning and control aircraft developed by the Shaanxi Aircraft Corporation based on the Yun-8 airframe. Some Chinese netizens call it as "Balance beam," due to the shape of the radar equipment it carries above the fuselage. Photo: CFP

By Xu Tianran

A newbie entering an online military forum may be baffled by jargon including references to the "GLA" launching warships like "dumplings into boiling water."

But seasoned browsers know that GLA stands for "Global Liberation Army," a sarcastic nickname for the US military, while the dumplings refer to its mass production of naval vessels.

Initially invented as a precaution against the leaking of military secrets, such slang terms are now being popularized by military enthusiasts, Pei Shen, a senior editor at the military channel of the huanqiu.com website, said.

The slang also serves a practical purpose in ensuring that writers' posts on military forums are not deleted. Forums automatically censor certain words to avoid information leaks, according to an article in the Beijing-based PLA Daily last week.

If foreign spy agencies become familiar with the nicknames, they may jump to mistaken conclusions about China's military power and intentions, the PLA Daily article warned.

Pei, however, disagrees.

"These enthusiasts are ordinary netizens with no access to defense secrets. Most of them are young, patriotic and sometimes quarrelsome," he said.
"Most people know there is a red line they should not cross when it comes to discussing military matters, but no one knows where it lies exactly," said a forum administrator under condition of anonymity.

Other popular jargons include "mid-autumn," which represents an aircraft carrier-based jet fighter that reportedly made its maiden flight around Mid-Autumn Festival in 2009.

A new attack helicopter with powerful attack capabilities is jokingly called Chengguan, a reference to China's urban management force, often criticized for violence toward street vendors.

The Chengdu J-10 fighter by contrast is referred to as "Stick," perhaps referring to six small beams on the air intake under the nose.

Meanwhile, the J-11 fighter is known as "Chopsticks" because the number 11 looks like a pair of chopsticks. And "Youth" is the nickname for the type 054 frigate because May 4 is China's Youth Day.

Secrecy

The appearance of military slang reflects netizens' increasing demand for information, according to a Friday article on xinhuanet.com, a website of the Xinhua News Agency.

More transparency in military affairs could also help counter the "China Threat" theory, which deems China's military to be a threat to global stability and is popular in some Western circles, the article commented. Discussion on military forums has never been more open, the anonymous administrator said.

"As far as I know, no one has been caught for photographing the runway and flight tests of the J-20 stealth fighter. This was unconceivable back in 1998, when the J-10 was conducting flight tests over Chengdu," he said.

One can find photos of the latest submarines, warships and fighter planes taken by netizens in many forums, he added.

"I guess that should be okay because foreign intelligence services know a lot more than do enthusiasts, with or without the photos," he said.

An enthusiast surnamed Zhang was caught outside Shenyang Aircraft Industry Corporation's No. 112 Factory in Liaoning Province in May. Officers examined his camera and computer, but didn't delete the photos he had taken.

"They just told me not to go too close to the airfield again," Zhang said to the Global Times.

Media threat?

The traditional media rather than slang or online discussion among enthusiasts is the biggest potential source of security leaks, another forum administrator told the Global Times on condition of anonymity.

In January this year, sharp-eyed viewers watching a Shaanxi Television News report about a provincial official visiting defense companies saw a display board presented to the official bearing a picture of a space shuttle that looked similar to the American X-37B space shuttle.

"The space shuttle has made a successful maiden flight. Composite materials have been used on the shuttle," read the caption on the display board.
Videos containing this image were removed from video sites and military forums within hours.

"God knows how the video clip got broadcasted," said Pei, adding that accidental leaks from official sources were also a greater threat than online discussion.

BEIJING May 28 (Reuters) - China criticised Vietnam on Saturday for its offshore exploration of oil and gas in the contested South China Sea after Hanoi complained that three Chinese patrol boats had challenged a Vietnamese ship.

The Vietnamese ship, the Binh Minh 02, detected the Chinese patrol boats approaching on radar at about 5 a.m. on Thursday (2200 GMT on Wednesday), the official Vietnam News Agency reported.

About an hour later, the three Chinese boats intentionally ran through the area where the Vietnamese ship was working, snapping cables the ship was using, then left the scene after about three hours, it said.

China's Foreign Ministry implied the fault for the incident lay with Vietnam.

"China's stance on the South China Sea is clear and consistent. We oppose oil and gas operations conducted by Vietnam, which have undermined China's interests and jurisdictional rights in the South China Sea and violated the consensus both countries have reached on the issue," ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said.

"What relevant Chinese departments did was completely normal marine law-enforcement and surveillance activities in China's jurisdictional sea area," she said in a statement posted on the ministry's website (www.mfa.gov.cn).

"China has been committed to safeguarding peace and stability in the South China Sea. We are willing to work together with relevant parties to seek a solution to related disputes," Jiang added.

Vietnam's Foreign Ministry protested against the incident by passing a diplomatic note to representatives of the Chinese embassy in Hanoi on Thursday.

The South China Sea covers an area of more than 648,000 sq miles (1.7 million sq km), containing more than 200 mostly uninhabitable small islands, rocks and reefs.

China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan all claim territories in the sea, which covers an important shipping route and is thought to hold untapped oil and gas reserves.

The incident this week took place in an area called Block 148 about 120 km (80 miles) off the south-central coast of Vietnam from the beach town of Nha Trang, the Vietnamese news agency said. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; editing by Myra MacDonald)

China donated 50,000 uniforms to Cambodia’s armed forces on Thursday, adding to a week of Chinese donations and agreements and coinciding with peacekeeping training for Cambodian personnel with US forces.

Zhang Jianlin, military attaché for the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh, handed the uniforms over to Sun Samnang, director general of logistics for the Cambodian Ministry of Defense, in a ceremony at the Phnom Penh military airbase.

The donation included 50,000 uniforms, along with accompanying hats, shoes and belts and adds to a donation of 257 military trucks a year ago.

“The Chinese Defense Ministry hopes that the uniforms will help relieve a shortage in the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces, and the donation also reflects the honest and good cooperation between the Chinese and Cambodian armies,” Zhang said.

Moeung Samphan, secretary of state for Cambodian Defense Ministry, who attended the ceremony, said the armed forces would have use of the uniforms, “fulfilling a shortage for our soldiers.”

On Wednesday Chinese Ambassador Pan Guangxue donated 200 Chinese-language books to the Confucius Institute at the Royal Academy of Cambodia. And on Tuesday, Commerce Minister Cham Prasidh signed a trade agreement with the president of the Chinese Chamber of International Commerce, Wan Jifei.

Wan said Tuesday he hoped the two countries would reach bilateral trade volume of $2.5 billion in 2012.

Meanwhile, Cambodian peacekeeping troops are expected to end training with US personnel on Friday.

Friday, May 27, 2011

While China continues to play the “I have no recollection of that senator” card when asked about Pakistan’s Gwadar offer by saying that the port had neither been offered nor accepted. (here) However, the Chinese naval base question is still generating news headlines around the region now with Burma joining the fray.

Thein Sein embarks on Thursday on his first official visit to China as Burma's new president with a three-day trip to Beijing where he is expected to discuss in depth the issue of China's navy docking in Burmese ports, and the Chinese desire to provide naval protection for its oil and gas facilities at the Burmese seaport of Kyaukpyu in the Bay of Bengal.

Other issues of mutual concern, such as border security, military relations and business agreements, are expected to take a back seat on this visit.

According to official sources in Naypyidaw, Chinese officials have repeatedly raised the issue of mobilizing its naval forces in Burmese territorial waters in recent months amid the superpower's increasing interests in the country, most notably the Sino-Burmese oil and gas pipelines, and the Chinese navy's activities in the Indian Ocean, particularly patrolling against Somali pirates.

Chinese officials are not suggesting a Chinese navy base in Burma, but having the permission to dock their warships at Burma's ports while they are patrolling the Indian Ocean and Somalia, said a source who spoke on condition of anonymity. The issue is still under discussion.

However, Burmese military sources have said they believe that China is more concerned about protecting the strategic port of Kyaukpyu, a multi-billion project that Beijing financed.

After the pipelines are finished in 2013, they are expected to have the capacity to transfer to Yunnan Province more than 80 percent of China's imported oil from the Middle East and Africa, as well as Chinese-purchased natural gas from Burma's Shwe Gas Field.

Shwe Field is currently Burma's largest gas reserve with an estimated 7.0 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. It was discovered in 2004 and is likely to be operational by 2013. The Burmese regime chose to sell the natural gas from Shwe Offshore Field to China over another energy-hungry neighbor, India, in 2007, a move that consolidated the junta's position as a valued ally of Beijing.

The pipeline project includes upgrading the airport on Ramree Island where Kyaukpyu is located. Residents of Ramree Island said that they have seen not only Chinese workers, but also Chinese military personnel in recent years on the island.

Chinese interests include the protection of oil tankers. Beijing has sent warships to Somali waters in the past two years, a maneuver that marked the superpower's the first ever naval mobilization outside the Pacific Ocean.

Returning from a counter-piracy operation in the Indian Ocean in August 2010, two warships, the Guangzhou and the Chaohu, docked at Thilawa Port, near Rangoon, for a five-day visit. Burmese and Chinese state media reported at the time.

Beijing's s development of naval supremacy in the Indian Ocean region not only involves Burma, but another key ally, Pakistan.

According to the Financial Times, Pakistan's Defense Minister Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar said that Islamabad had offered China the port of Gwadar on its western coastline to build a naval base and maintain a regular presence there.

As per the Sino-Burmese tie, China and Pakistan this year celebrate their 60th anniversary of friendship.

According to Chinese experts, the Chinese government is attempting to shift from its longstanding "One-Ocean" policy to a "Two-Ocean" strategy taking in both the Pacific and Indian oceans. Its Indian Ocean allies, Burma and Pakistan, are key to this ambition, they say.

In a 2009 report on the Sino-Burmese relationship, Chinese scholars Li Chenyang and Lye Liang wrote: Hence, a core objective of Chinaâ€™s policy towards Myanmar [Burma] is to establish a strategic network of road, rail and air transport from Yunnan Province in the southwest through Myanmar to the Indian Ocean and also to construct water, oil and gas pipelines.

Apart from the naval issue, Thein Sein's China trip will likely include discussions on the stability of the countries' shared 2,200 km border where Burma's government forces have faced off against several ethnic armies in recent years.

According to reports from Burmaâ€™s northeastern Shan State, three Chinese engineers working at Tasang hydropower project, near the towns of Mongpan and Mongtong, have disappeared since May 17, alongside a Burmese engineer and three workers.

Burmese troops have joined forces with Chinese security personnel to search for the missing persons whose fates are still unknown.

Ahead of Thein Sein's visit, Chinese ambassador to Burma Li Junhua said the trip would certainly push the two countries strategic and mutually beneficial cooperation towards a new high, according to the Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency.

Meanwhile, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il is reportedly to arrive in Beijing on Wednesday. North Korea nurtures strong relations with both China and Burma. But while China is the largest supplier of arms to the Burmese armed forces, there is allegation that Burma has been developing missile technology, underground facilities and possible nuclear facilities with North Korean assistance.

FORT IRWIN, Calif. Fort Irwin and National Training Center commanding general, Brig. Gen. Terry Ferrell, and Gen. Chen Bingde, Chief of the General Staff of the People's Liberation Army of China, pose for a picture with other members of a Chinese PLA delegation and Fort Irwin and NTC staff during a visit, May 21. (Photo by Sgt. Giancarlo Casem, 11th ACR Public Affairs)

Read the Transcript
The text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.

Lisa Mullins: 17 foreigners were present at the Pakistani naval base that was attacked today; 6 of them were Americans, the other 11 were Chinese. The Chinese presence highlights China’s growing relationship with the Pakistani military. Now, Pakistan has invited China to build a naval base in Gwadar, that’s in the southwest of Pakistan. China has already helped to build a huge new commercial port there. Jim Holmes is professor of strategy at the U.S. Naval War college in Newport, RI. Jim, as you know, if you look at a map you’re gonna see that a naval base in this Pakistani port has the potential, one would think anyway, to dominate the world’s busiest oil shipping lanes in and out of the Persian Gulf, which sounds like a threat to U.S. interests. Is it?

Jim Holmes: In a sense I think it is, but if you look at Gwadar on the map, if you call up Google Earth, you will notice it sits on a narrow peninsula. It does not look very defensible against air strikes or against cruise missile strikes from thesea or whatever, so I’ve tended to be more skeptical about Gwadar.

Mullins: So let’s be clear on this. Then will there be a Chinese fleet there? It is as we said, already a commercial base. Will it be a Chinese military base on Pakistani soil?

Holmes: Well, I think that’s the $64,000 question. Admiral Willard, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, notes that the base infrastructure or I should say, the commercial port infrastructure that China has funded in the Indian Ocean is clearly adequate for military use as far as the channel being deep enough, having big enough piers and whatnot, but at the same time in order to forward deploy a fleet for a long period of time you need, you’re gonna need major repair facilities, much like you would see with the U.S. 7th Fleet in places like Sasebo and Yokosuka.

Mullins: In Japan, and so what’s the Chinese interest then if it will not become a military port with a fleet established there? What’s the purpose?

Holmes: Well, I think it gives them the ability to support, I mean they’re clearly interested in the counter piracy mission. They’ve been there for over two years now. They need access just to put into these ports simply for refueling and things like that. That’s the sort of temporary deployment to the Indian Ocean is a far different thing from actually keeping a standing naval fleet in the region. We should just keep an eye on construction at these places in case something changes and they do opt to go for full bore naval bases.

Mullins: You seem as though your eyebrows are not being raised by this, but this comes at a time of considerable tension between the U.S. and Pakistan after Osama Bin Laden’s killing on Pakistani soil. What is the signal that this announcement about the Chinese naval base sends to Washington?

Holmes: Well, I actually think this is a Pakistani signal and not so much a Chinese signal. If you parse the words of the Pakistani announcement about this it doesn’t appear quite you know, ironclad that the Chinese have actually signed on to this. This to me seems like a Pakistani signal to Washington that Pakistan has other options than maintaining close ties to the U.S.

Mullins: Jim Holmes is professor of strategy at the U.S. Naval War college in Newport, RI, talking about plans for a Chinese naval base in Pakistan. Thank you.

The development of China's "Online Blue Army" unit is for improving the defense capabilities of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), a Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman said on Wednesday, citied by Beijing News.

Launching the "Online Blue Army" is based on the PLA's needs, and enforcing the ability of Internet security protection is an important issue in its military training programs, Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said.

Geng's comments came in response to questions during the ministry's news conference in Beijing asking if the "Online Blue Army" is China's Internet squad aimed at carrying out attacks on other countries' Internet systems.

The PLA Daily reported earlier the PLA's Guangzhou command had invested tens of millions of yuan in building the specialized Internet squad.

Geng said Internet security has become an international concern which affects not only the society but the military sector, adding that China, armed with comparatively lax online security protection, is among the victims of Internet attacks.

The news conference was the second in what will be the ministry's regular briefings to be held on the last week of each month. The first briefing was held on April 27.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

BDU-33http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/bdu-33.htm
Practice ordnance includes 25-pound BDU-33 bombs having a spotting charge that releases a cloud of smoke on impact. The BDU-33 is used to simulate the MK 82 in low drag configuration. The BDU-33 is a small cast-iron and steel non-explosive ordnance that is used in training to simulate actual bombs. These training munitions, by design, have similar flight and delivery behavior to war shot munitions.

They may contain signal devices to aid visual scoring. Generally signals can be grouped as “hot” or “cold”. Hot signals normally use a phosphorous component expelled upon impact with the force of a shotgun. The phosphorous causes a narrow flame lasting a fraction of a second followed by white smoke. This signal can be scored by day or night. Cold signals normally use titanium tetrachloride and only produce smoke; night scoring is hampered by absence of visible light. Training aircraft ammunition used for air-to-ground strafing consists of bullets without explosive components. The propellant is consumed within the gun when the round is fired and only a steel or aluminum-capped steel slug is projected to the target.

The munitions to be loaded onto aircraft are brought to the flightline on a trailer. The BDU-33 bombs are lifted out of a metal cage on a trailer and are locked in place underneath the aircraft. The BDU-33 bombs are lifted out of a cage on the trailer and carried to the aircraft 20 feet away. BDU-33 munitions are loaded onto TERs (Triple Ejector Racks) and SUUs (Suspension Units). The BDU-33 is pushed against a spring loaded catch and locked into place. The unloading of the BDU-33 from the aircraft involves loosening the bolts and releasing the spring. The BDU-33 is carried back to the trailer.